COLIN Keane might have been disappointed to come away from Galway with only two winners but in the context of the Irish Flat Jockeys’ Championship, he didn’t do himself any harm. Pat Smullen only had two winners as well, and that’s a small return for a jockey who may not have expected a huge haul given the form of Dermot Weld’s horses, but was still plenty in demand with other trainers during the week. You still expect Smullen to go well at Galway so for Keane to start the week seven winners ahead of his title rival and finish it with the same amount in hand is not bad going at all.

The light is just starting to fade on this year’s flat season and at the time of writing, Keane has a seven-winner lead and that’s a substantial cushion. The 22-year-old has had a great season, backed up by his guvnor, Ger Lyons, and by a number of other trainers. Having finished second in the championship last year, Keane set his intentions to go one better this time around. At 22, it would be a huge achievement. Since 1983, only seven different jockeys have won the Irish Flat Jockeys’ Championship.

BATTLE UNTIL THE END

But Smullen, who has accounted for nine of those championships, won’t give up without a fight and has vowed to battle until the end. The key factor is the aforementioned form of Dermot Weld’s horses. Weld has issued positive reports that his string is on the way back to performing at their best and, significantly, we’re starting to see the evidence. Smullen rode Espoir D’Soleil to take a nine-furlong maiden at Leopardstown on Thursday night and, earlier in the week, Eziyra won the Group 3 Give Thanks Stakes at Cork on the same Tuesday evening Zabalan won at Roscommon.

Momentum is huge and if Smullen can get a move on now he could well chase Keane down. Ladbrokes go 4/5 Smullen, 5/4 Keane. It could be that close.